Ambassador Mette Knudsen

On the 15th of September Ambassador Mette Knudsen presented the Letter of Credence by which Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark nominates her as Ambassador of Denmark to Kenya, to the President of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta.

On the 15th of September, at State House, Ambassador Mette Knudsen presented the Letter of Credence by which Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark nominates her as Ambassador of Denmark to Kenya, to the President of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta warmly welcomed the Ambassador to Kenya, and asked her to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark. The President added that Kenya wishes to continue to strengthen the strong cooperation and close bilateral relations with Denmark. In reply, the Ambassador, presented the compliment of The Queen, and conveyed Her Majesty’s best wishes to the President and the Kenyan people.

The Ambassador added the importance her government attaches to Kenya and that she is deeply honoured to be nominated as Ambassador of Denmark to Kenya. “I look forward to meet the Kenyan people and to learn more about Kenyan culture - and to further develop the historically close cooperation between our two countries” says Ambassador Knudsen.

In her speech Ambassador Mette Knudsen highlighted three priorities for her work in Kenya:

“The private sector is the backbone of the Kenyan economy and Kenya stands out in the region as a hub for investment and innovation. Around 50 Danish companies are already active in Kenya and we will make use of a wide range of business promotion instruments to further expand commercial cooperation to mutual benefit for Kenya and Denmark. The Government of Denmark also highly appreciates the partnership with Kenya in the 3GF - Global Green Growth Forum.”

2. Development cooperation with support to Kenya’s Vision 2030

“Our close and strong partnership goes back to the first year of Independence. This year we expect to sign an agreement with Kenya on the largest Danish grant in these more than 50 years of development cooperation. Our country programme for the next five years will support Kenya in implementation of Vision 2030 in the areas of Inclusive Green Growth and Employment; Health and Governance.”

3. Regional Stability

“Kenya plays an important role in regional stability. The instability at the Horn of Africa and in Somalia is a shared concern for our two countries, and we have the deepest sympathy for the tragic losses the Kenyan people have suffered from horrendous terror attacks. We have increased our development support to Somalia and we are also supporting security including contributions to AMISOM. We will bilaterally with Kenya continue efforts to counter violent extremism and support navy and coast guard cooperation and military education.”

Ambassador Mette Knudsen is a distinguished career diplomat in the Danish Foreign Service and has previously served as Danish Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus (2012-2015), Ethiopia and the African Union and ECOWAS (2004-2007). She has been Head of the Africa Department (2007 – 2012) and has also had postings in Zambia (2002-2004) and Tanzania (1995-1998).

For more information on the Royal Danish Embassy in Kenya do not hesitate to contact the Embassy by email nboamb@um.dk or phone +254 20 7122848-51.